Facebook Deals Have Big Impact on Central London Office Take-Up

Office take-up passed the 10-year monthly average again last month. companies transacted 1.2 million square feet of office space in central London over the month of July, according to real estate advisory firm CBRE. On average over the last ten years, 1 million square feet of office space has been taken up every month in the capital.

A large factor in the drive in office take-up is Facebook’s decision to double its London office space. The social media giants leased 611,000 square feet of new office space in the King’s Cross area. The new offices will open in 2021 and allow Facebook to provide desks for up to 6,000 employees in the UK. Their deal includes 15% of the commercial space at King’s Cross, including buildings P2 on Lewis Cubitt Square and 11 and 21 Canal Reach.

Facebook joins Google in choosing King’s Cross as their UK base, as well as other tech giants like Apple and Amazon, who have put faith in London despite worries amid Brexit.

The rise in last month’s London office take-up is clearly a positive sign for confidence in the capital. Although the report found that office take-up in July represented a 5% fall on the previous month, CBRE senior director Simon Calvert echoed his optimism. He said that “it is a sign of international confidence in London that major tech and creative companies are continuing to acquire large volumes of space across the capital”.

This followed the findings that take-up in July was led by firms in the creative industries. These firms accounted for 679,400 square feet of the office space taken up, which is 61% of the month’s total. The business services sector accounted for 17% of the total office space taken up. Notably, flexible office providers acquired 133,200 square feet of office space in the capital.

The report also showed that under offers remained 43% higher than the 10-year average, at 4.1 million square feet, signalling that interest in commercial property in the capital is not slowing down.